Less than a week after the earthquake that led to the collapse, far-right opponents will take to the streets across France on Saturday at the call of unions, associations and the left-wing coalition “New Popular Front” branded by N.1 opponent RN Chief Jordan Bardella ahead of early parliamentary elections.
Since Friday night, several thousand people have marched in several cities with violence, in Lyon, in which four were injured, including three police officers according to the prefecture.
Around 200 protests are planned over the weekend ahead of parliamentary elections on June 30 and July 7, starting Saturday morning in Bayonne, Toulon or Valenciennes. In Paris, the procession will follow the traditional route Republic-Bastille-Nation. Lyon will parade on Sunday.
According to police sources, 300 to 350,000 people are expected, including 50,000 to 100,000 in the capital. 21,000 policemen and gendarmes will be mobilized.
“Of course it is necessary that this day can be held as we were able to do with pensions, without violence,” said N.1 CFDT Marylise Léon in an interview with Le Parisien.
The five unions CFDT, CGT, UNSA, FSU and Solidaires are calling for mobilization. The FO, CFE-CGC and CFTC emphasize their apolitical nature so as not to call for protests even if certain federations such as the one for education at the FO are marching.
“There is a need for a democratic beginning,” emphasized Ms. Léon, who calls for a vote “for every banner against the RN.”
“On Saturday, given the situation we are experiencing in France, there should be a lot of people,” said Hervé Aussel, general secretary of CFDT Haute-Garonne.
– “Very great danger” –
Left-wing leaders, who called on Monday evening to join the marches, will be able to measure the popularity of the New Popular Front, an electoral coalition that brings together the main left parties from Insoumis to Place publique, Raphaël Glucksmann’s movement through the Socialist Party.
Unthinkable before Sunday, their union was sealed this week and resulted in a joint program, the economic component of which, like that of the RN, represents a “very big danger” for the French economy, the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, assessed on Friday evening from Italy, where he participated in the G7 summit.
This unity on the left, however, was fractured late on Friday with the announcement of the investiture by La France Insoumise (LFI) of the outgoing MP from the North, Adrien Quatennens, challenged after he was convicted of domestic violence.
On the other hand, historical figures of the party such as Danielle Simonnet, Alexis Corbière or Raquel Garrido were not reappointed.
“Purge”, condemned the first, “punishment for expressing internal criticism”, according to the second. “I was made to pay for the crime of lèse-Mélenchon,” Mrs. Garrido protested again.
Mr Macron mocked the internal differences on the left, calling them a “show of great inconsistency”: everyone “thinks the opposite” of the other, “we are among the mad, it is frivolous”.
The “legislative contract” of the New People’s Front proposes “a complete break with the politics of Emmanuel Macron”, according to LFI coordinator Manuel Bompard, with the key to abolishing the pension reform, the SMIC to 1600 euros, but also the fight against anti-Semitism and the condemnation of “Hamas’ terrorist massacres ” committed on October 7 in Israel, two topics that poisoned relations on the left during the European campaign.
– May 1, 2002 –
“The Republic is in danger from these engineers of chaos who advocate division,” said Jordan Bardella on Friday during the campaign in Loiret, referring to “friends of Mr. Mélenchon”.
The RN president, who is targeting Matignon at only 28 years old, estimated that only “two political parties” will be able to “form a government”: his own, the favorite in the polls, and this new union of the left.
He also criticized the protests planned for this weekend: “democracy cannot be challenged to the point of rejecting the results of the ballot boxes.”
Since Sunday, demonstrations and gatherings have been held almost every day, especially in the regions.
On May 1, 2002, the qualification of Jean-Marie Le Pen for the second round of the presidential elections brought together almost a million protesters; today it is the “shock of the Europeans” with a cumulative far-right score of 37.8% and the prospect of a
“RN in front of the government’s doors” who push opponents to the streets.
Mr Bardella on Friday condemned the “extremely dangerous” calls for “sedition”, saying he was “very committed to freedom of expression”.
On the side of the classical right, the Paris court caused another twist by annulling on Friday the decision of the national office of the Les Républicains (LR) party, which excluded its president Eric Ciotti, in favor of an alliance with the RN.
Mr. Bardella assures that his party will present a “joint candidate” with LR “in 70 constituencies”.
From today until Sunday, the deadline for submitting applications, the parties will complete the elections.
In a sign of the uncertainty weighing on the vote, the Paris Stock Exchange experienced its worst week since March 2022 (-6.23%).
AFP